Hilarious and Surprising Predictions of the Future…From the 1960s!

From Singularity Hub

"Nothing should make a futurist more wary than looking at the history of the profession and seeing how hilarious its mistakes have been. Jetpacks, flying cars, death rays…the future isn’t quite what the past hoped it would be. Of course, when predictions do come true it can be really shocking."

(Videos galore included)

Open University new fees

As you may know i am an Open University student having completed a BA in History with them last year and am preparing to start a Masters in October. Today the Open University have announced their new fees from 2012 as part of the big shake-up of university funding and like everywhere prices are going up. "Full time" undergraduate degree fees will now be £5000 a year. That is for 120 points which is the most you can study in a year with the OU. Most people tend to do no more than 60 points a year, from 2012 they will be paying £2500 a year for a 60 point module. For comparison over the 6 years of my degree i paid somewhere between £600 to £700 a year.

Obviously this is a big increase and i fear for the OU's future a bit. A lot of people choose OU degrees for interest not career reasons and they will likely be put off by these fees, i might well have been if i was looking to start in 2012 though a History degree was always my dream.

Although student loans will be available that does not apply to everyone. Value for money will also become a much bigger issue. Although i think the OU is great (obviously) £2500 a year for a few books, a dozen tutorials and an exam seems a lot steeper than a few hundred pounds. "Normal" universities might be still a lot more expensive but you do get the day-to-day university experience as part of that. Working at a university myself i know where the money has to go to pay all the other costs involved in running a university but these are not so apparent or even relevant to your average student.

The Open University is still a great option though but i think they may need to up their game a bit. At where i work i have noticed students becoming much more concerned with value for money and have a much higher expectation from their career mortgage investment (which is what your student fees and loans are) so the same will be true at the OU.

Silent movie scores found at Birmingham central library

From Birmingham News Room

"Staff at Birmingham City Council making preparations for their move to the Library of Birmingham building in 2013 have uncovered what could be the UK’s largest collection of silent movie scores, including a unique Charlie Chaplin theme tune."

Heavy armour would have exhausted the French at Agincourt, say scientists

From the Guardian

"Would the battle of Agincourt have turned out differently if the French had worn lighter armour? Perhaps, say researchers who have discovered that the heavy steel-plate armour worn by the French would have exhausted them before the fight with the English had even started..."

Nice video of people in suits of armour on a treadmill. The comments on the article are interesting.

Photo : Sopwith Camel

See more photos from my visit to the Imperial War Museum here.

A history of the News of the World – in pictures

With the last ever issue of the News of the World, proported to be the largest selling English language newspaper, on Sunday due to the phone hacking scandal the Guardian have a photo gallery looking back over the newspaper's 168 year history.

Bones, hairs and blood: relics that stretched pilgrims' grasp of humanity

From the Guardian

"An understanding of the medieval cult of martyrs' relics can help open our minds to the otherness of beliefs in today's world."